Bredies

THE collection of dishes known as “bredies” predates the arrival of the Dutch settlers in South Africa in 1652 with a dish called the “hutspot”.

The hutspot is one of two stew-like dishes still popular in Dutch cuisine today. The other is the “stamppot”. 

The main difference between the two is that the hutspot consisted only of meat (typically from the shoulder), potatoes, onions and carrots, whereas any other vegetables could be added to make a stamppot. 

For both dishes the cooking process is similar. The meat is stewed in plenty of fat or butter and liquid (usually water or sometimes stock) and once cooked, the liquid is drained, to be served as a soup or sauce with the meal. 

In the case of the stamppot, the fresh vegetables are cooked in the liquid until very soft before being mashed to form the final dish. 

If potatoes were not available, beans, rice or oats were suitable replacements. Another popular variety was to serve the dish on some bread with the meat and soup poured over the bread. 

This is still a popular dish in some Afrikaner households today. 

Van Riebeeck himself served a variety of the hutspot – probably with beans, rice or oats – to workers. This was also known as a potage, a word that originated from old French. 

The French Huguenots were well familiar with bredie-like dishes when they arrived at the Cape Colony. Their famous stew – pot-au-feu – is cooked much the same way as the hutspot. 

The meat is cooked first in a lot of liquid; the vegetables are only added toward the end. 

But, there is evidence that it is the Arabs and before them the Persians, and not Europeans, who are the true inventors of the bredies we love so much (see Claassens’ 2003 PhD thesis (University of Pretoria) ‘Die Geskiedenis Van Boerekos 1652 to 1806’).

Their influence on our local bredies is noticeable even today. First, they used mostly lamb or mutton for their bredies and they used the meat and fat of fat-tailed sheep. Local stew makers followed these recommendations and used the mutton of fat-tailed sheep supplied by Khoi farmers and traders. 

Secondly, when dried beans and legumes are used in the dish, constant skimming is recommended. This practice is still prevalent among local bredie makers. 

Thirdly, there are great similarities in the vegetable (and fruit) ingredients of Arab and local bredies. These include quince and carrot bredie, as well as dried beans and legumes, green beans, tomato and cabbage. 

Most cultures do have stews and stewed meat as part of the culinary history. Ours took a specific route and arrived here as a result of European colonial expansion. We took the hutspot and made it a bredie. 

Claassens (2003) cites evidence that the word bredie most likely originated in Madagascar, where it meant ‘spinach’. Later on, ‘breedi’ was the word used locally for diced or shredded vegetables such as cabbage or spinach spiced with cayenne pepper.

 By definition then, any bredie thereafter must contain some kind of vegetables and is thus something different from the original hutspot. It is also not a stamppot because the vegetables are not mashed to the final dish.

The hugely popular dish potjiekos is thus a special kind of bredie: one that is cooked over an open fire and in a special cast-iron pot. 

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

600 grams mutton, cut into pieces

1 kilogram pumpkin, peeled and cubed

3 sticks cinnamon

½ dried red chilli, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

Water as needed

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